Melhania denhamii R.Br.
Ara.: Tibat, dabbagh, riba hamboak (last 2 in Egypt).
Perennial shrub, up to 0.8 m in height, with stellate-tomentose young stems, leaves and inflorescences. Leaves with leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 1-4 × 0.5-2 cm, subacute or emarginate at the apex, with margins entire to dentate-serrated. Petiole 0.5-1 cm long. Stipules filiform, 3-6 mm long. Flowers in groups of 3-4, forming pubescent to tomentose cymes, sometimes solitary; peduncle 0.5-4 cm long, pedicels 3-7 mm; bracteoles (epicalyx) 0.5-0.8 × 0.5-1 cm when flowering; fruiting bracteoles 1.5-2 × 1.5-2.5 cm, reniform, pubescent, free at the base. Sepals 5-8 × 2-3 mm, hairy when fruiting. Petals yellow, 5-7 mm long. Stamens 5, alternating with 5 staminodes 4-5 mm. Ovary sessile, with style 0.5 mm long, ending in 5 stigmas. Fruit in loculicidal capsule, 5-7 mm, subglobose-ovoid, pubescent, with 1-2 seeds per locule. Seeds 2-3 mm, obtrigonal, smooth, brown.
Flowering:
March to December.
Fruiting:
April to January.
Habitat:
Open thickets in rocky soils.
Distribution:
Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, SE of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Arabian Peninsula, reaching India to the E.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species, but widely distributed. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.